- Possible causes for missing forsythia flowering
- pruning at the wrong time
- Do not prune forsythia in the fall
- Cut back Goldilocks radically only in an emergency
- No flowering due to frost
- tips and tricks
Forsythia is one of the most flowering ornamental shrubs in our gardens. It is therefore not often that a forsythia does not bloom. If the shrub does not develop flowers, there are always care mistakes. Most of the time the plants were cut at the wrong time.
Excessive pruning can be the reason why the forsythia does not flower
Possible causes for missing forsythia flowering
- Cut at the wrong time
- Too radical a cut
- Removal of previous year's shoots
- Sudden cold snap with sub-zero temperatures
pruning at the wrong time
The flowers of the forsythia develop on the previous year's shoots. If you prune at the wrong time or make a radical cut, cut off these shoots. So it is not surprising if the forsythia does not want to bloom.
Regular pruning is necessary so that the bushes do not become bare and there is more space for the new shoots. You prune the forsythia correctly if you only remove the old shoots and leave the shoots from the previous year.
You should cut back immediately after flowering in May. Then you will recognize much better which forsythia branches have borne flowers and are now allowed to fall victim to the scissors.
Do not prune forsythia in the fall
For many garden lovers, it is traditional to make the garden winter-proof in autumn and to cut back all the shrubs at the same time.
With forsythia, such a pruning is fatal because you remove all the flowers.
If you want to cut in the fall, then only dead shoots and branches that are heavily branched.
Cut back Goldilocks radically only in an emergency
A radical pruning also means that the forsythia does not bloom. You can only cut down the shrub so much if it is infested with fungi or has not been cut for years.
No flowering due to frost
If the temperatures drop well below freezing during the flowering period of the forsythia, the flowers of the otherwise completely hardy ornamental plant freeze to death. Unfortunately, the flower then fails completely. Snowfall, on the other hand, does not bother the forsythia blossom so much. Most of the time it still blooms.
tips and tricks
Forsythia blooms in April. If a supposed forsythia is already in full bloom in March or even in winter, in most cases it is not forsythia, but winter jasmine.